The Morning Search

At dawn, when the sun cast its first rays and the birds sang their first song, Ling Tian slowly awoke from his dream. He shifted slightly and immediately felt half his body go numb. Looking down, he saw that Hua Min'er was nestled against him, half sprawled across his body. She had lain motionless on top of him for so long that the pressure had cut off his circulation, leaving him thoroughly numb. Still, he didn't dare move, afraid of waking the lovely girl in his arms.

For a while, Ling Tian gazed at the beauty in his arms, suffering and blissful all at once.

Hua Min'er lay quietly in his embrace, peaceful beyond measure. Every so often, her lashes fluttered, and a faint smile played on her lips, as if she were having a sweet dream.

Suddenly, laughter and splashing drifted over. Yun Ying and the others had already woken and were washing up by the nearby stream. A group of girls played and teased one another, brimming with youthful energy.

"Mm..." Hua Min'er murmured, roused by their playful noise.

"Brother Ling Tian, I slept in your arms all night." Hua Min'er's heart brimmed with sweetness. Though she couldn't help feeling shy, she didn't want to move.

"Mm. Min'er, you went to bed so late last night. You must be exhausted. Why don't you sleep a little longer?" Ling Tian smiled gently at her, his eyes full of tenderness.

She had danced last night, then been dragged into singing by several senior sisters, and even had a little wine afterward. Though she had slept for so long, traces of weariness still lingered on her face.

"Mm, then I'll sleep a little longer." Hua Min'er snuggled even closer to Ling Tian, a faint smile on her lips. Then she closed her eyes and settled in to sleep again.

Ling Tian smiled and wrapped his arms around her more tightly. He drew a deep breath, and a faint, delicate fragrance filled his nose, soothing him to the core.

"Brother Ling Tian's arms are so warm. I feel so safe here. I could fall asleep listening to his heartbeat. I wish I could lie in his arms like this forever," Hua Min'er thought to herself. As the thought lingered, a flush rose to her cheeks.

"I wish I could hold Min'er like this and think of nothing else," Ling Tian thought to himself, as if their hearts were in perfect sync.

For a moment, their thoughts drifted in a thousand directions.

Before long, though, they were interrupted.

"Ling Tian, Min'er, time to wake up. We've still got a task ahead of us." A clear, melodious voice rang out. Who else could it have been but Yao Yu?

"Mm, I know, Senior Sister." Hua Min'er inwardly blamed Yao Yu for interrupting their tender moment, but she could only open her eyes and rise from Ling Tian's arms, a shy smile on her face.

Ling Tian felt just as embarrassed and annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. He watched reluctantly as Hua Min'er slipped from his arms and floated down from the tree.

"Brother Ling Tian, I'm going to wash up. Hurry over, okay? Hehe." Hua Min'er gathered up Ling Tian's cloak, glanced back at him, then smiled as brightly as a butterfly.

"Mm, I know. Ah..." Ling Tian answered dreamily. He had just started to stand when his foot went numb, and he toppled straight out of the tree.

Thud!

He crashed heavily into the tender grass, flattening a whole swath of it.

"Ah! Brother Ling Tian, what happened?" Hua Min'er whirled around with a cry, then hurried back and helped him up, asking anxiously.

"Uh, don't move, Min'er. I'm fine. I'm just too numb to move for a moment." Ling Tian was covered in bits of grass, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Hehe, I thought something had happened to you. So that's all it was." Hearing that Ling Tian was fine, Hua Min'er, quick-witted as ever, knew exactly why he'd ended up like that. The thought made her smile even sweeter.

"Um, Min'er, go ahead. I'll stretch a little and be fine. Hehe." Ling Tian gave an awkward chuckle.

"No. I'll help you over." Hua Min'er stubbornly insisted.

"Oh, all right. But take it slow. I'm really numb." Seeing how determined Hua Min'er was, Ling Tian couldn't turn down her kindness. He let her support him as they walked toward the stream.

Not long afterward, they reached the stream. The other girls saw them and hurried to ask what had happened. With no choice, Ling Tian explained. The girls burst into teasing laughter, leaving both him and Hua Min'er blushing scarlet.

Amid their teasing, the two hurriedly washed up. Yet every time they glanced at someone, they saw a broad grin in her eyes. No one showed the slightest sign of letting them off the hook.

"Uh, Senior Sister Yao Yu, you said we had another task. What is it?" Ling Tian changed the subject, hoping to distract everyone.

"Next, we'll split into teams and search this area, dealing with any bodies that haven't undergone Corpse Transformation yet, before they turn into zombies." Yao Yu stopped laughing, her expression growing serious.

"How should we divide into teams?" Ling Tian asked.

"We'll split into five teams, each with at least one person at the Qi Solidification Stage. The teams can form freely. One will stay behind to guard the camp, while the other four search in the four directions. If you find a body, deal with it on the spot." By then, Yun Ying had finished washing up too, and she laid out the plan.

"Mm, that sounds good. I doubt the zombies will come out in daylight, so we should be safe." Ling Tian nodded. Yun Ying's arrangement seemed sound.

"Then, Ling Tian, Min'er, let's team up, along with Junior Sister Fang Qin. We'll search to the south." Yao Yu spoke up. Apart from Yun Ying, she was the strongest cultivator here. Ling Tian knew Fang Qin was also at the Qi Solidification Stage, so it was clear Yun Ying had arranged this deliberately, to have them look after him and Hua Min'er.

"Mm, all right. Let's go," Ling Tian and Hua Min'er replied together.

When no one objected, Yao Yu led them south. The others formed teams as they pleased and set out to search the directions they had agreed on.

There was no danger along the way. Everyone spread out their spiritual sense, ready to act together if they noticed anything unusual. They did find a few bodies that had yet to undergo Corpse Transformation. They burned them completely and disposed of them properly, sending thick black smoke into the sky. Looking in the other directions, they occasionally saw plumes of smoke rising too; the other teams must have found bodies as well.

They continued south. Before long, the group grew less tense and began chatting and laughing. They traveled dozens of miles south, clearing away dozens of bodies along the way.

"Hey, Senior Sister Yao Yu, why can't my spiritual sense detect any zombies? There were so many yesterday, but now I can't find a single one." Ling Tian asked in surprise.

Yao Yu had noticed the oddity too. She furrowed her brow. "There are two likeliest possibilities. First, they're still farther away, and we haven't reached them yet. Second, they're hiding so well that our spiritual sense can't detect them."

"Beyond here is the desert. It's dry and unsuitable for zombies, so the second possibility is probably the only one," Fang Qin analyzed.

"Mm, that must be it. They're hiding very well. Our spiritual sense only reaches a few hundred meters, so we probably can't detect them." Yao Yu spoke.

"Oh, I see." In truth, Ling Tian had the strongest Mental Cultivation among them. He was only a step away from the Golden Core Realm, and his spiritual sense could reach nearly a thousand meters. Once he reached the Golden Core Realm, perhaps he'd be able to go beyond a thousand meters.

"There's actually one more possibility: the zombies' cultivation is higher than ours. Even if they stood right in front of us, our spiritual sense wouldn't detect them." Yao Yu pondered for a moment, then continued, "But that seems unlikely. There were so many low-level zombies yesterday, and our cultivation was higher than theirs, so we can rule that out."

Listening to her, Ling Tian suddenly thought of another possibility: the zombie controlling the others from behind the scenes might be using its own cultivation to shield those low-level zombies. That would explain why they couldn't detect them. But he kept the idea to himself. Even if he told them, there was nothing they could do about it; it would only make everyone anxious.

"Senior Sister Yao Yu, shouldn't we head back? There won't be any zombies farther south." Hua Min'er had thought this trip would be fun, but all they'd done was burn bodies. She was already fed up.

"Mm, it's noon already, so we should head back. Anyway, the zombies will seek out living things on their own at night. We can kill them then." Yao Yu was getting a little tired of it too, so she readily agreed when Hua Min'er suggested going back.

"Hehe, let's fly back! I haven't had a proper chance to fly yet!" Hua Min'er cried happily.

"Mm, that's just what I was thinking. Ling Tian, come with me. Min'er only just learned to fly, so I doubt she can carry you." Yao Yu had no objection, and turned to Ling Tian.

"All right, Senior Sister Yao Yu. But Min'er, be careful. Don't fall again." The first part was for Yao Yu; the second was a warning to Hua Min'er.

"Hmph. Silly brother." Hua Min'er was a little annoyed. She said nothing more, summoned her flying sword, Lian Ying, and sprang onto it before soaring away. She flew like lightning, showing not the slightest sign of inexperience.

"Junior Sister Min'er really is a genius. She's already so good at flying on a sword after just one day." Fang Qin couldn't help praising her. As she spoke, she summoned her own flying sword and sped after Hua Min'er.

"Ling Tian, let's go." Yao Yu summoned her flying sword, and the two shot away with a rush of wind.

On the flying sword, Ling Tian closed his eyes and focused, releasing his spiritual sense. Soon, he detected a place shrouded in black miasma. It was the stream where he and Hua Min'er had splashed around yesterday. He frowned, but when he searched the area more carefully, he couldn't detect anything at all. He had no choice but to give up, though he had formed his own judgment.

"Maybe there's a zombie there, probably the hardest one to deal with. Should I tell the senior sisters?" Ling Tian hesitated.

"Better not. It's deep in there. If I tell them, they might rush in recklessly. We'd have no advantage on the zombies' turf." Ling Tian quickly abandoned the idea of telling the others.

"I'll wait and see. Take things as they come, and deal with some low-level zombies first," he thought to himself.

They flew swiftly and reached the campsite in no time. The disciples from the other directions were returning one after another too, having probably finished dealing with the bodies.

"Junior Sister Min'er, you're back. How did it go? Did you find anything?" Yun Ying, who had stayed behind to guard the camp, greeted them with a faint smile.

"Senior Sister Yun Ying, we only dealt with some bodies. We didn't find anything else. It was so boring. I'm dead tired." Hua Min'er pouted, yawning, her eyes heavy with weariness.

"Hehe, who told you to stay up so late last night? All right, go get some rest." Yun Ying affectionately stroked Hua Min'er's head.

"Mm, I know. Brother Ling Tian, make sure you get some rest too, all right?" Hua Min'er looked back at Ling Tian, her gaze tender.

"Mm, I know. Go get some rest, Min'er." Ling Tian smiled gently at her, full of affection.

"Mm." Hua Min'er replied, then took a light step and headed back to rest.

The others were somewhat tired too, and soon went back to rest as well. In the middle of the day, they weren't afraid the zombies would attack, especially with Ling Tian's formation to protect them.

A little while later, Ling Tian was the only one left in the clearing. The sun blazed overhead, and the heat was almost unbearable. He wiped the sweat from his brow, then climbed back up the old tree. Its thick canopy of leaves and branches offered plenty of shade.

"Mm, I'm a little sleepy too. I'd better get some rest. There'll probably be another fierce battle tonight." Thinking this, Ling Tian closed his eyes for a nap. A faint snore rose from him moments later.